Indian Silverbill
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Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae

[Photo] Indian Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica), Thol, Gujarat, India. Date: August 1, 2007. Author: Ravi Vaidyanathan. URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Silverbill.jpg

Copyright (C) 2007 Ravi Vaidyanathan Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

The Indian Silverbill Lonchura malabarica also known as White-throated Munia is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the closely related African Silverbill, Lonchura cantans. This estrildid finch is a common resident breeding bird in most of Middle East and South Asia:Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Jordan (introduced), Kuwait (introduced), Oman, Puerto Rico (introduced), Qatar (introduced), Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, USA (introduced) and Virgin Islands (possibly extinct).

Characteristics
The Indian Silverbill is a tiny gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents dry open country and cultivation, especially near water. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, into which 4???10 white eggs are laid.

The Indian Silverbill is 11???11.5 cm in length with a long black tail. The adult has a stubby silver-grey bill, buff-brown upperparts, white underparts and rump and dark wings. The sexes are similar, but immatures have buff underparts and a shorter tail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Silverbill

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